HANOI (Reuters) -At least 10 Vietnamese fishermen were injured when their boat was attacked by two foreign vessels while fishing near the Paracel Islands claimed by both China and Vietnam, state media reported.
The attack took place on Sunday, the Thanh Nien newspaper said late on Monday, citing authorities in the central province of Quang Ngai.
The fishermen said around 40 people from the foreign vessels beat them with iron pipes and took away their fishing equipment, Tien Phong newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The reports did not provide a description of the foreign vessels nor the alleged attackers.
Three of the fishermen had their legs and arms broken in the attack, Thanh Nien newspaper said, citing Nguyen Thanh Bien, the captain of the fishing boat QNg 957.39 TS.
The fishing boat with the 10 fishermen aboard departed a port in the province on Sept. 13, the report said.
The China-controlled Paracel Islands, known as the Hoang Sa in Vietnam, are in the South China Sea, a busy global maritime waterway almost all of which is claimed by China.
China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday Vietnamese fishing boats illegally fished in the relevant waters of the Paracel Islands without the permission of the Beijing government and that relevant Chinese authorities took measures to stop them.
“The on-site operations were professional and restrained, and no injuries were found,” the ministry said, in response to a Reuters request for comment, without specifically referring to the attack.
Vietnam’s foreign ministry didn’t immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Vietnamese authorities are investigating the incident, the reports added.
(Reporting by Khanh Vu and Francesco Guarascio; additional reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Michael Perry and Jonathan Oatis)
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